Ex Animo
by KlonoaDreams
Summary: "From the heart." How many ways can you fall in love with the same person?
1. Chapter 1

A/N I'm not even gonna think up an excuse for this one. Just let me get on with the disclaimer so I can _try_ to get on with my life.

 **Disclaimer for the entire story: I don't own** _ **Final Fantasy XV**_ **or anything related to the** _ **Final Fantasy**_ **series!**

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Noctis is twelve years old when he has a very peculiar dream. It's a convoluted mess that he can't at all remember when he wakes up. He just knows it happened, as he looks around his room feeling far more confused than he feels he should be. He shrugs it off after a minute. It's just a dream…right?

"Right…" That's what he thinks of it…until he starts to notice something especially off about today when he goes to school. It starts off just like any other school day. He's surrounded by students his age that are far too eager to know more about him, when he'd rather they back off. They are too close for comfort, as usual.

At one point, he has to restrain himself from hitting a girl that tries to touch his arm. Fortunately, her friend steps in to keep her hand from making contact with him.

"You can't just touch Prince Noctis like that." Noctis would prefer it if they didn't even think about touching him at all—prince or no prince. There are a lot of things he wants to say about that, but nothing seems to stick, so he finds himself just staring at absolutely nothing while he thinks. He tunes out most of the things the girls in front of him are saying to him. All except for one question in particular that manages to catch his attention.

"Prince Noctis, how many servants do you have?" one of the girls asks.

"Didn't you already ask me that before?" Noctis is blunt when he responds to the girl's question with a question of his own. His annoyance is evident in his tone, much to everyone else's surprise.

"Prince Noctis—that's the first time she's asked you that question," the only boy in the group informs him.

This time, it's Noctis's turn to be surprised. "Is that so?"

His stomach churns uncomfortably at the sight of seeing the others nod their head. His cheeks heat up with a faint blush as he tries his best to shake off how awkward he now feels. He avoids making any sort of eye contact and searches for a way out of the mess he's manage to make for himself.

He turns around and starts to walk away, managing to say, without stuttering, "Bathroom."

They don't follow him as he makes his way towards the restrooms. He can only hope that they're empty, because that conversation he had drained him of whatever little energy he had to socialize with anyone else. Maybe if he's lucky, no one will notice he's missing when class resumes—

"Huh?" Noctis manages to make eye contact, despite trying not to, when he turns his head to look the pudgy, blond-haired boy that moves out of his way. He is carrying a camera in his hands, one that Noctis can't help but just look at because there's something about it that feels so…

"Familiar…" Noctis mutters.

The boy stares back at him when he notices Noctis staring. Blue eyes shift from left to right before a timid voice stutters out a barely audible, "S-Sorry."

That's all it really takes for Noctis to lose whatever nerve he had. He says nothing and just continues going on his way to the restroom. It's where he spends the rest of the day, surprisingly undisturbed until Ignis barges in to take him home once classes are over. It is by far the most embarrassing moment of his life, when he has to explain what he was doing there all day.

It gets even worse when his father asks him to explain himself during dinner. It's only as bad as it is because Noctis has no idea how to explain what went on in the first place. So he lies instead and says that it was just an overwhelming day for him today.

Technically, he's telling the truth—not fully, but it does the job and gets Regis to back off…

"You haven't eaten your vegetables." At least, until Regis comments on the uneaten vegetables on Noctis's plate.

All Noctis does is ignore it as usual—it's nothing particularly new.

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A/N So like...hey, how's it going? Nothing much, just starting a brand new story in a brand new fandom because I have no life and an idea struck me so hard, that I had to write it. Blame **Cloudyfish** for this, you have them to thank for this mess. But YEAH, if you haven't guess from the summary and this chapter, this is a timeloop fic, so DO expect there to be angst eventually…and then some.

Not meant to be a particularly long fic, but let's see how far this takes me anyways (it's just part of this series I have in the making, but this fic is meant to stand on its own, too). Autistic Noctis is a thing, because why not (I've become far too invested in the page and a half I got out of this fic so far). I'm not one for writing ship fics, since I'm usually for putting chemistry first before anything, but considering this fic...exceptions will be made. So yeah, there be Promptis and Gladnis, because I'm a sucker for these ships.

Hopefully I can finish this fic, because I desperately _NEED_ to start finishing fics. Don't expect long chapters. This was meant to be a one-shot but I got too impatient and... **yeah** , ahahha...

Hope you enjoyed! Until next time, everyone! KD out! XD


	2. Chapter 2

What Noctis can't ignore, however, is the uneasy sense of déjà vu he feels growing stronger with each passing day. The dreams are getting more and more vivid, to the point he ditches class to recuperate after an especially intense dream he has while napping. When Ignis goes to pick him up from school that day, he finds him in an empty laboratory, hiding under one of the tables. Noctis practically jumps when he sees Ignis's face. For a brief moment, he swears he can see a huge scar on the left side of the older boy's face.

"Is something the matter?" Ignis already knows that something is wrong with Noctis, from how overwhelmed he appears. And yet, he still asks anyways.

"'m fine…" Noctis lies as he takes Ignis's outstretch hand. He doesn't say anything else after that, choosing to stay quiet on the way to the car. He doesn't speak for the rest of the day, even when his father tries to start a conversation with him during dinner.

"Nonverbal day?" Regis asks.

All it takes is a simple nod from Noctis for Regis to understand, so he leaves him be. He hopes that tomorrow will be a better day for the two of them to talk more.

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It's not any better, because Gladio accompanies Ignis this time when he goes fetch Noctis from the hiding spot of his choice. Today, Noctis chooses to stay out of everyone's reach within a tree. It's not the most comfortable places around (he swears he can't feel his butt anymore), but it's better than being in class. He's not exactly compliant to climb down when Ignis asks him to, so Gladio decides to take matters into his own hands.

Noctis assumes that Gladio is going to climb up the tree to get him, so he starts preparing himself to jump down at the last possible second. He's not in any mood to be touched today, especially by Gladio of all people. It is to his unfortunate luck that his assumption is incorrect, because instead of climbing up, Gladio instead kicks at the tree. He continues kicking until the force manages to disrupt Noctis's balance and knocks him out of the tree.

Gladio holds out his arms and catches Noctis as he falls. It takes Noctis a few seconds to register the unwanted physical contact he's making with Gladio, so he starts to flail until the older boy drops him.

 _Thud!_

Noctis looks up at Gladio and glares at him as he rubs at his backside. "Don't touch me."

Gladio arches his brow at the boy, resisting the urge to scoff. Feeling slightly mischievous, he reaches out to touch Noctis…only to let out a yelp in pain when Ignis grabs him tightly around the wrist.

"Please do refrain from touching him." There's an unsaid "or else" in Ignis's tone when he stares at Gladio, his glasses gleaming eerily in the light. "Today is not a good day…understand?"

"G-Got it." A bead of sweat trickles down the side of Gladio's face. There is something rather funny about how intimidating Ignis can be, for a boy who was overdue for a growth spurt and whose voice has started to crack. Gladio would laugh, if he weren't so terrified.

Noctis watches the scene before him with slight amusement. It keeps him somewhat distracted before he realizes he's still on the ground, so he gets up. It's as he's brushing off the dirt on himself when Ignis asks if he's fine. "Meh."

It's all he can really say. There is no other way to describe it, because he still can't find the right words to say. He'd also rather not talk about it.

"Care to explain why you've been skipping out on training?" Gladio decides now is a good time as any to confront Noctis about it. Really, he doesn't mind much…if only Noctis would actually _give_ him an excuse instead of outright ditching. "Tell me, did you jam your finger? Do you have a headache? Did some girl broke your heart and now you can't face the world anymore?"

"What—no!" Noctis takes complete offense to that last one. "Why would I care if a girl broke my heart?"

"Fine…a boy," Gladio corrects himself. He really shouldn't assume…of course, he only assumes because Noctis is usually ever surrounded by girls (with a boy or two every once in a while).

"Why?!" Noctis doesn't understand _why_ Gladio would even ask him that. It's honestly the last thing on his mind too, with how people keep getting too close for comfort during school hours.

"Aaaand that's enough of that," Ignis decides to step in, because this is certainly a conversation that should be set aside for a _much_ later date. "It's been an overwhelming week for Noct, which is why he hasn't been attending practice."

"Is that so?" Gladio could understand that. He'd still appreciate it more if he heard it from Noctis, but what is he going to do? He might as well make it up to the boy for knocking him out of the tree like that (it might also help with getting back on Ignis's good side). "In that case, what do you say we head out to the arcade today? My treat."

It honestly doesn't take Noctis too long to say, "Sure."

He's in dire need of a distraction anyways.

"I suppose I'll make a phone call to explain our absence." Ignis pulls out his cellphone from his pocket.

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The trip to the arcade proves to be quite the necessary distraction that Noctis needs. Though, it is as he's playing a shooting game that he notices something about the way Gladio talks to Ignis. He lowers his gun and just stares at them. He tilts his head to the side in thought and snorts when he realizes what's up.

"So that's what that was about…" Noctis should've figured that there had to be a reason for _why_ Gladio had mentioned such a specific scenario to him. Really now, if there was anyone who should be caring about rejection, it should be Gladio. "Whatever."

It's not as though it matters to him—Gladio's crush wasn't going to help him get a high score.

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A/N Lmao, wasn't expecting the Gladnis to pop up so soon, but whatever (gotta start somewhere, ahaha). Always been the type to write things up on the spot—expect that to happen…a lot. Yeah…by the by, shout out to **Cloudyfish** for contributing part of the dialogue and stuff in this chapter.

Teenagers will be teenagers, with their crushes and awkward puberty stages (the idea of shorter teens with their cracking voices being intimidating toward slightly older teens who are much taller amuses me to no end). Meanwhile Noctis is not exactly having a good time and it has been having an impact on the way he usually acts.

So it's like midnight and I have a practical chemistry lab exam in less than seven hours, so this is as much as I have for now. Feel free to drop by and say something (please do, I crave validation), I got a shower to take and some hiragana and katakana to write before I go to sleep. Until next time! KD out! XD


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